Little Snow-White

Germany, Jacob and Wilhelm GrimmOnce upon a time in mid winter, when the snowflakes were falling likefeathers from heaven, a beautiful queen sat sewing at her window, whichhad a frame of black ebony wood. As she sewed, she looked up at thesnow and pricked her finger with her needle. Three drops of blood fellinto the snow. The red on the white looked so beautiful, that shethought, "If only I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, andas black as this frame." Soon afterward she had a little daughter thatwas as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony wood, andtherefore they called her Little Snow-White. Now the queen was the most beautiful woman in all the land, and very proudof her beauty. She had a mirror, which she stood in front of everymorning, and asked:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,Who in this land is fairest of all?

And the mirror always said:You, my queen, are fairest of all.

And then she knew for certain that no one in the world was more beautiful than she. Now Snow-White grew up, and when she was seven years old, she was sobeautiful, that she surpassed even the queen herself. Now when thequeen asked her mirror:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,Who in this land is fairest of all?

The mirror said:

You, my queen, are fair; it is true.But Little Snow-White is stillA thousand times fairer than you.

When the queen heard the mirror say this, she became pale with envy, andfrom that hour on, she hated Snow-White. Whenever she looked at her,she thought that Snow-White was to blame that she was no longer themost beautiful woman in the world. This turned her heart around. Herjealousy gave her no peace. Finally she summoned a huntsman and said tohim, "Take Snow-White out into the woods to a remote spot, and stab herto death. As proof that she is dead bring her lungs and her liver backto me. I shall cook them with salt and eat them." The huntsman took Snow-White into the woods. When he took out his huntingknife to stab her, she began to cry, and begged fervently that he mightspare her life, promising to run away into the woods and never return.The huntsman took pity on her because she was so beautiful, and hethought, "The wild animals will soon devour her anyway. I'm glad that Idon't have to kill her." Just then a young boar came running by. Hekilled it, cut out its lungs and liver, and took them back to the queenas proof of Snow-White's death. She cooked them with salt and ate them,supposing that she had eaten Snow-White's lungs and liver. Snow-Whitewas now all alone in the great forest. She was terribly afraid, andbegan to run. She ran over sharp stones and through thorns the entireday. Finally, just as the sun was about to set, she came to a littlehouse. The house belonged to seven dwarfs. They were working in a mine,and not at home. Snow-White went inside and found everything to besmall, but neat and orderly. There was a little table with seven littleplates, seven little spoons, seven little knives and forks, sevenlittle mugs, and against the wall there were seven little beds, allfreshly made. Snow-White was hungry and thirsty, so she ate a few vegetables and a little bread from each little plate, and from each little glass she drank a drop of wine.Because she was so tired, she wanted to lie down and go to sleep. Shetried each of the seven little beds, one after the other, but none feltright until she came to the seventh one, and she lay down in it andfell asleep. When night came, the seven dwarfs returned home from the work. They lit their seven little candles, and saw that someone had been in their house. The first one said, "Who has been sitting in my chair?" The second one, "Who has been eating from my plate?" The third one, "Who has been eating my bread?" The fourth one, "Who has been eating my vegetables?" The fifth one, "Who has been sticking with my fork?" The sixth one, "Who has been cutting with my knife?" The seventh one, "Who has been drinking from my mug?" Then the first one said, "Who stepped on my bed?" The second one, "And someone has been lying in my bed." And so forth until the seventh one, and when he looked at his bed, he foundSnow-White lying there, fast asleep. The seven dwarfs all came running,and they cried out with amazement. They fetched their seven candles andlooked at Snow-White. "Good heaven! Good heaven!" they cried. "She isso beautiful!" They liked her very much. They did not wake her up, butlet her lie there in the bed. The seventh dwarf had to sleep with hiscompanions, one hour with each one, and then the night was done. When Snow-White woke up, they asked her who she was and how she had foundher way to their house. She told them how her mother had tried to killher, how the huntsman had spared her life, how she had run the entireday, finally coming to their house. The dwarfs pitied her and said, "Ifyou will keep house for us, and cook, sew, make beds, wash, and knit,and keep everything clean and orderly, then you can stay here, andyou'll have everything that you want. We come home in the evening, andsupper must be ready by then, but we spend the days digging for gold inthe mine. You will be alone then. Watch out for the queen, and do notlet anyone in." The queen thoughtthat she was again the most beautiful woman in the land, and the nextmorning she stepped before the mirror and asked:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,Who in this land is fairest of all?

The mirror answered once again:

You, my queen, are fair; it is true.But Little Snow-White beyond the seven mountainsIs a thousand times fairer than you.

It startled the queen to hear this, and she knew that she had beendeceived, that the huntsman had not killed Snow-White. Because only theseven dwarfs lived in the seven mountains, she knew at once that theymust have rescued her. She began to plan immediately how she might killher, because she would have no peace until the mirror once again saidthat she was the most beautiful woman in the land. At last she thoughtof something to do. She disguised herself as an old peddler woman andcolored her face, so that no one would recognize her, and went to thedwarf's house. Knocking on the door she called out, "Open up. Open up.I'm the old peddler woman with good wares for sale." Snow-White peered out the window, "What do you have?" "Bodice laces, dear child," said the old woman, and held one up. It was braidedfrom yellow, red, and blue silk. "Would you like this one?" "Oh, yes," said Snow-White, thinking, "I can let the old woman come in. Shemeans well." She unbolted the door and bargained for the bodice laces. "You are not laced up properly," said the old woman. "Come here, I'll do itbetter." Snow-White stood before her, and she took hold of the lacesand pulled them so tight that Snow-White could not breathe, and shefell down as if she were dead. Then the old woman was satisfied, andshe went away. Nightfall soon came, and the seven dwarfs returned home. They were horrified to findtheir dear Snow-White lying on the ground as if she were dead. Theylifted her up and saw that she was laced up too tightly. They cut thebodice laces in two, and then she could breathe, and she came back tolife. "It must have been the queen who tried to kill you," they said."Take care and do not let anyone in again." The queen asked her mirror:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,Who in this land is fairest of all?

The mirror answered once again:

You, my queen, are fair; it is true.But Little Snow-White with the seven dwarfsIs a thousand times fairer than you.

She was so horrified that the blood all ran to her heart, because she knewthat Snow-White had come back to life. Then for an entire day and anight she planned how she might catch her. She made a poisoned comb,disguised herself differently, and went out again. She knocked on thedoor, but Snow-White called out, "I am not allowed to let anyone in." Then she pulled out the comb, and when Snow-White saw how it glistened, andnoted that the woman was a complete stranger, she opened the door, andbought the comb from her. "Come, let me comb your hair," said thepeddler woman. She had barely stuck the comb into Snow-White's hair,before the girl fell down and was dead. "That will keep you lyingthere," said the queen. And she went home with a light heart. The dwarfs came home just in time. They saw what had happened and pulledthe poisoned comb from her hair. Snow-White opened her eyes and cameback to life. She promised the dwarfs not to let anyone in again. The queen stepped before her mirror:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,Who in this land is fairest of all?

The mirror answered:

You, my queen, are fair; it is true.But Little Snow-White with the seven dwarfsIs a thousand times fairer than you.

When the queen heard this, she shook and trembled with anger, "Snow-Whitewill die, if it costs me my life!" Then she went into her most secretroom -- no one else was allowed inside -- and she made a poisoned,poisoned apple. From the outside it was red and beautiful, and anyonewho saw it would want it. Then she disguised herself as a peasantwoman, went to the dwarfs' house and knocked on the door. Snow-White peeped out and said, "I'm not allowed to let anyone in. The dwarfs have forbidden it most severely." "Ifyou don't want to, I can't force you," said the peasant woman. "I amselling these apples, and I will give you one to taste." "No, I can't accept anything. The dwarfs don't want me to." "If you are afraid, then I will cut the apple in two and eat half of it.Here, you eat the half with the beautiful red cheek!" Now the apple hadbeen so artfully made that only the red half was poisoned. WhenSnow-White saw that the peasant woman was eating part of the apple, herdesire for it grew stronger, so she finally let the woman hand her theother half through the window. She bit into it, but she barely had thebite in her mouth when she fell to the ground dead. The queen was happy, went home, and asked her mirror:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,Who in this land is fairest of all?

And it answered:

You, my queen, are fairest of all.

"Now I'll have some peace," she said, "because once again I'm the mostbeautiful woman in the land. Snow-White will remain dead this time." That evening the dwarfs returned home from the mines. Snow-White was lyingon the floor, and she was dead. They loosened her laces and looked inher hair for something poisonous, but nothing helped. They could notbring her back to life. They laid her on a bier, and all seven sat nextto her and cried and cried for three days. They were going to bury her,but they saw that she remained fresh. She did not look at all like adead person, and she still had beautiful red cheeks. They had a glasscoffin made for her, and laid her inside, so that she could be seeneasily. They wrote her name and her ancestry on it in gold letters, andone of them always stayed at home and kept watch over her. Snow-Whitelay there in the coffin a long, long time, and she did not decay. Shewas still as white as snow and as red as blood, and if she had beenable to open her eyes, they still would have been as black as ebonywood. She lay there as if she were asleep. One day a young prince came to the dwarfs' house and wanted shelter for thenight. When he came into their parlor and saw Snow-White lying there ina glass coffin, illuminated so beautifully by seven little candles, hecould not get enough of her beauty. He read the golden inscription andsaw that she was the daughter of a king. He asked the dwarfs to sellhim the coffin with the dead Snow-White, but they would not do this forany amount of gold. Then he asked them to give her to him, for he couldnot live without being able to see her, and he would keep her, andhonor her as his most cherished thing on earth. Then the dwarfs tookpity on him and gave him the coffin. The prince had it carried to his castle, and had it placed in a room wherehe sat by it the whole day, never taking his eyes from it. Whenever hehad to go out and was unable to see Snow-White, he became sad. And hecould not eat a bite, unless the coffin was standing next to him. Nowthe servants who always had to carry the coffin to and fro became angryabout this. One time one of them opened the coffin, lifted Snow-Whiteupright, and said, "We are plagued the whole day long, just because ofsuch a dead girl," and he hit her in the back with his hand. Then theterrible piece of apple that she had bitten off came out of her throat,and Snow-White came back to life. She walked up to the prince, who was beside himself with joy to see hisbeloved Snow-White alive. They sat down together at the table and atewith joy. Their wedding was set for the next day, and Snow-White's godless mother was invited as well.That morning she stepped before the mirror and said:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,Who in this land is fairest of all?The mirror answered:You, my queen, are fair; it is true.But the young queenIs a thousand times fairer than you.

She was horrified to hear this, and so overtaken with fear that she couldnot say anything. Still, her jealousy drove her to go to the weddingand see the young queen. When she arrived she saw that it wasSnow-White. Then they put a pair of iron shoes into the fire until theyglowed, and she had to put them on and dance in them. Her feet wereterribly burned, and she could not stop until she had danced herself todeath.